System Exceeds European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Requirements

A new system for screening and detecting liquids contained inside passenger baggage has been successfully tested by Reveal Imaging, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the company said in a news release Monday. SAIC says the device successfully passed laboratory testing and met the requirements set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC).

In the wake of the August 2006 thwarted bombing attempt in London, travelers have been required to limit the size of liquid containers and remove them from carry-on bags. Since then, international regulators have sought to develop rules, technology, procedures, and a timetable to allow passengers to carry the full spectrum of harmless liquids on aircraft again. In Europe, the EU Commission has put into place regulations and standards for equipment used to screen Liquid, Aerosols and Gels (LAGs), with the goal of allowing liquids back on planes in April 2013. Compliance with these standards is evaluated by ECAC through stringent tests carried out by government labs throughout Europe to measure technology against today's liquid explosive threat. The Concept of Operations of this equipment is divided into 4 categories (Type A-D) ranging from directly sampling liquids (Type A) to scanning bags with liquids inside them (Type D) as travelers did before the liquid ban.

Reveal Imaging is the first company to pass the most technically challenging test, Type D, for liquids inside a bag. The test was conducted using the Reveal dual-energy CT-800 scanner which at the checkpoint is capable of screening 500 to 600 bags per hour. The testing validated that Reveal met the even more stringent Standard 2 requirements which require manufacturers to detect the broadest range of liquid explosives. The test also demonstrated that Reveal's false alarm rates were approximately a factor of three below the mandated threshold.

In announcing receipt of ECAC's Type D test validation, Alex Preston, General Manager of SAIC's Security and Transportation Technology business unit, said, "Allowing liquids back into bags will substantially improve operational and economic efficiency for airports throughout Europe and provide greater convenience for the traveling public. We are pleased the European Commission established the necessary standards that will get us there. Passing the Type D test so convincingly with the proven high-throughput, low false alarm rate CT-800 platform, we believe will change the landscape of airport screening for years to come."

FMI: www.saic.com